Shaking in Your Arms
by myevilregal
Summary: Emma gets a call from Henry, who tells her that something's wrong with Regina. She quickly runs over and finds that Regina is having a seizure. One-shot.


**I just could not get this oneshot idea out of my head. It could be taken as pre-swanqueen or not.**

**Warning: Very minor language. Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters.**

Emma quickly grabbed her jacket off of the coat rack and reached for the doorknob.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mary Margaret's voice sounded behind her. Emma turned and saw her roommate holding two cups of cocoa. The brunette looked toward the television which was currently showing the main menu for some movie the she had rented, "I thought we were watching a movie."

Emma looked at the door then back to the pajama-clad schoolteacher, "Henry called and said something was wrong with Regina; I've gotta go check it out." Emma let out a quick apology and headed out the door.

As soon as she walked through the building's door, the brisk winter air overcame her body. She put on her jacket as she walked, regretting that she hadn't taken the extra second to get one of her heavier coats.

As soon as her bug roared to life, she was driving down the street towards the Mayor's house. Worry clouded her mind as she remembered Henry's tone when she had spoken to him. Fear was laced throughout his speech, and she could tell he was trying to put on a brave face, but she could detect that he was just a shaken little boy. Her mind raced with things that could possibly be wrong with Regina.

She couldn't have gotten hurt; Henry would've told her of any injuries. But still there was something in his voice that shook Emma to her core. It must have been serious. Henry had probably never seen his mother in an unfit position.

Before she knew it, she was pulling into the driveway. Immediately, the porch light turned on and she could see Henry at the door. She quickly turned the car off and got out, not even bothering to take the key out of the ignition. She jogged up to the doorway and took in Henry's expression. The boy had scared eyes and she immediately took him into her arms in a tight embrace. He fiercely hugged her back before pulling away, "You have to help Mom."

She nodded and looked over him and into the empty foyer, "Where is she?"

He turned and nodded to the staircase, "She's in her room. I- I didn't know what to do Emma..." His voice clearly cracked.

The blonde quickly turned his face back towards her and saw that his eyes were full of tears, "I didn't know what to do," he repeated.

She tenderly wiped away a stray tear, "Hey," she took his chin in between her thumb and forefinger and made him look at her, "you did the right thing. Now, how about you go watch some TV and I'll go check on your mom. Okay?"

He somberly nodded and headed into the living room. She watched him go before starting towards the stairs. She had no idea what to expect. What had gotten Henry so shaken? He hadn't been very descriptive on the phone. She mentally slapped herself for not asking him now; how was she supposed to help if she didn't know what the problem was? Was the Mayor just having a bad day? Was she sick? Had the brunette possibly gotten drunk off of her seemingly harmless cider?

As she approached the Mayor's bedroom door, she braced herself. She wasn't quite sure what to expect. She opened the door and looked around.

The room was dark and Emma squinted to see clearly. Light from the hall spilled in through the doorway and landed on the bed where a mass lay. She slowly walked into the room, "Regina?" As she moved out of the doorway, more light came in and illuminated the bed.

The mayor was lying on the edge of the mattress, facing outward, and slightly curved into a fetal position. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was barely open, letting in quiet, yet ragged breaths.

"Regina..?"

The closer she got, the more details her eyes took in. The mussed hair, the glossy, unmoving eyes. But most of all she noticed the shaking. Her whole body was shivering, as if she was in the Arctic.

Emma gasped, "Regina, are you okay?"

She was met with no response. Suddenly a thought hit her, "You're—you're having a seizure, aren't you?"

She was met with more quivering. Emma's mind raced with what to do.

She thought back to one of her foster homes. She remembered the wife had them occasionally, but always behind closed doors. Among the rest of the children, no one really minded when the parents would slip away. All of the kids- mostly teens- in the home would make jokes about how they were always behind closed doors because they couldn't wait until nighttime to do the dirty.

But Emma remembered, once when all the kids were snickering about the parents, she had slipped away. Her intentions were to go to the restroom, but as she walked through the hallway she passed the parents' room. The door was just slightly cracked and as she walked by she couldn't help but give a fleeting glance.

The wife was on her side, in the center of the bed, her eyes wide as if she had just seen a ghost. She was shaking violently. The husband was behind her, holding her. He was petting her arm and whispering quietly in her ear. Emma had been terrified, not even being 12 years old and seeing her caretaker like that. She usually wouldn't have given a damn, but the woman was particularly nice. She kept walking, too scared to continue to watch.

The sheriff looked at the now shivering mayor and approached the bed cautiously, "Regina, I know you don't really like me touching you, but you're just going to have to deal with it."

Emma walked to the corner of the room, behind Regina and turned on one of the lamps, casting a dim glow on the room. She walked back to the door and closed it before turning back to the brunette.

She walked around to the other side of the bed and kicked off her boots before climbing onto the bed. Slowly settling behind Regina, she cautiously put her arm around her, bringing them close together like two spoons in a drawer.

Immediately she could feel Regina trembling against her, but she held her tight, trying to keep her still. The brunette's unsteady breaths filled the air and Emma frowned to herself. She had never seen Regina as weak as she was now. The Sheriff slowly brought her hand up to the Mayor's upper arm and rubbed it, almost like she was trying to warm her up. The memory of her foster parents came back to her and soon enough, she wasn't rubbing at Regina like she was a stain on her favorite shirt, but she was delicately stroking her, as if she was afraid her arm would crack like a china cup.

"Regina, you're going to be alright. I promise you'll be alright. It will pass. You're okay…" she whispered. She felt like she was reassuring herself more than she was reassuring Regina. Because honestly, she was scared for the woman. She knew that she'd be fine in the end, just like her foster mom was, but any day that Regina didn't have a snarky retort was not a good day.

The room was too quiet for Emma's liking, and with the lack of noise she was afraid Regina would hear her heart pounding wildly with fear.

"You know, when I first met you I actually thought you were kind of nice, in a way. You offered me a drink and you were welcoming at first. Boy was I wrong. Suddenly the inner bitch- excuse my language- was released. I didn't really realize why you were so mean—not that I really care- but I guess I understand now. Maybe you weren't used to change. But things are certainly different now, eh? I mean, who'd ever think I would end up in Mayor Regina Mills' bed?" Emma chuckled.

A breathy laugh emerged from Regina's parted lips. It was faint, but Emma smiled. She leaned her head in closer to the woman and let her nose brush against the mayor's soft locks. An apple scent filled her nose and she let herself just enjoy the smell.

Her hand left the brunette's arm and started to lightly run along Regina's hair. She slowly began to let her fingers tangle into it. The quaking had subsided a little, but it was still blatantly there.

Regina gave a quiet hum of approval.

Emma slightly smiled and continued to play with the Mayor's hair, "Does everything you own smell like apples?" She wondered aloud.

They laid still for a while, Emma's fingers still dancing in the woman's hair. The act felt intimate enough that she hoped it would comfort Regina, but it was also innocent enough that it couldn't be portrayed as something else. The only noise in the room was the ticking of a clock nearby, accompanied by their quiet puffs of breath.

Emma held the mayor close, not remembering the last time she had let her guard down this much. It was queer, being this close to her supposed enemy and feeling her guard slip away so naturally. She finally took her hand away from Regina's hair just to wrap it snugly around the woman's waist.

Soon enough her eyes were drifting closed and calm, even breaths could be heard emanating from deep within her sleeping frame.

Regina on the other hand, had her eyes wide open. Ms. Swan's arm was draped across her abdomen and there was nothing she could do about it. Of course she could move it, her motor skills were slowly coming back to her, but the problem was that when she moved it, it would make everything quite awkward. Awkward enough that the sheriff might leave and surprisingly enough, that was the last thing that Regina wanted.

It only took a couple moments for Regina to find the difference in the situation though. Noticing the deep breaths coming from behind her and the lack of movement, she had come to the conclusion that Emma was in fact asleep. That certainly made a difference.

The mayor sighed in relief. She actually hadn't wanted to move the blonde's arm; she had actually found some comfort in it. She couldn't remember the last time someone had held her in such a close way. The last time someone had just held her just for the reason of holding her- with genuine tenderness.

The only reason she would move the arm was to tell Ms. Swan that such acts were not acceptable. Deep down though, deep deep down, Regina Mills wanted nothing more than for someone to hold her and tell her everything was alright. But in this day and age, Regina's mindset had beaten her heart and all of those desires she held dearly to were ignored, because her mind knew that these desires were how hearts got hurt. And Regina Mills had already suffered too much pain for one heart to take.

But for this one moment in time, her brain let her feelings slip through the cracks, and for this one moment, she let herself be held. Sure, Emma Swan wasn't the knight in shining armor that her youth had always pictured, but for now the blonde was good enough.

So Regina put away all of her common sense and snuggled closer to the blonde. She lightly traced her fingers over Emma's hand. Tracing meaningless patterns into her pale skin, Regina didn't even notice as her eyes slipped shut.

Neither of the women were awake when Henry peeked in an hour later to see quite a sight: his birthmother holding his other mother tightly, both of them oblivious to the world. The boy slowly crept into the room, turned off the lamp in the corner, and crept out. He quietly closed the door and headed off to bed. If he would've looked a tiny bit closer at the oddity, he would've seen the most peculiar sight of all; Emma's sleeping hand was being held by none other than the seemingly heartless mayor.

**Review! c:**


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